Arrest Made in Fatal City Shooting

Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - Buffalo Police announced on Thursday they have made an arrest in the Tuesday afternoon shooting that took the life of 14 year old Raymond Patterson III.

Twenty-Eight year old Joseph Gant is accused of firing shots in to a crowd on the Oakmont Avenue Footbridge, killing Patterson and wounding three others.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown credited people in the community for leading Police to the shooter. "Often times we think that people don't respond when things like this happen, that people will not step up, that people will not speak up," Brown said. "I can tell you that people did step up, people did speak up, and that's why we have this arrest today."

Brown along with Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda, walked through the neighborhood on Wednesday, showing images from surveillance footage and asking people if they could identify the shooter.

Derenda said it was through that process they were able to find their suspect.

"We didn't know the suspect's name before the walk yesterday," Derenda said. "We had pictures of the suspect through some video we obtained. That walk pushed it over."

Early Wednesday, Derenda said the shooting occurred when there was a fight between two girls on the footbridge. Police now say Gant is the one who approached the crowd and started to fire shots.

"Raymond Patterson III was a completely innocent child, just playing in the street," Brown said. "Something like this never should have occurred. It is a terrible tragedy, but it was not an occurrence between children. It was a 28 year old adult male who is responsible for this."

Gant is charged with one count of murder in the second degree, and three counts of assault in the first degree.